Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
The search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie has begun. This could be dangerous … for my new fitness regimen … that I just started … oh please, who am I kidding.
Do you have those food blogs that you routinely check in on? Like that obsessive sort of Facebook checking…
On my list of “totally dig” is Bakergirl. Love her fascination with brown butter. And brown sugar. And all sorts of yummies that add depth to your baking creations.
….and that’s how I came across Bakergirl’s Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The search is off to a good start.
Amazing right out of the oven. Amazing.
- 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter (browned)
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbs bourbon, optional
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 10 oz bag of chocolate chunks (semi-sweet or dark chocolate)
- Brown the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the butter constantly as it melts; it will bubble and foam in about 7 - 9 minutes and then start to brown soon after it foams. Shortly after the foaming and when it starts to brown, remove it from the heat. Watch it closely because it will burn very quickly. Pour the butter in a bowl and place it in the refrigerator to cool
- In a large bowl, mix the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon
- In a mixing bowl, cream the cooled brown butter with the brown sugar and white sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla extract. Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing after adding each egg. Finally, add the bourbon. The alcohol will cook out leaving a light caramel flavor.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine
- Stir in the chocolate chunks
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight. This is important because the butter has been browned and liquefied, so chilling it ensures the cookies keep their form when baking
- After chilling the dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Let the dough "thaw" for about 20-30 minutes (or you're going to get a real arm workout trying to scoop the dough)
- Scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet. I went with Bakergirl's recommendation to use an ice cream scoop to scoop the dough onto my cookie sheet...and it worked great!
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will look like they aren't cooked, but rest assured they will firm up as they cool
- Cool the cookies a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack
The Local … A Foodie’s Food Truck (Colorado Springs, CO)
I first saw “The Local” at the Colorado Farm & Art Market, but I caught the tail end of the market and The Local had sold out. I kept checking The Local’s Facebook page to figure out where I could catch them. Out in front of the Cottonwood Center for the Arts on a Friday night…perfect.
Mandy and I (we have been known to put down some food) headed for the Cottonwood and The Local. I had, unfortunately, eaten a huge lunch (rib cook-off at work…who can resist…it was a total meat fest) and Mandy had had a snack before meeting up. So, we wandered around the Cottonwood center…pretending not to both be thinking about The Local’s menu that we had browsed before heading inside.
A burger with a brown sugar and coffee rub; grilled cheese with braised short ribs, caramelized red onions and jack cheese; Korean BBQ tacos with brown sugar and soy marinated sirloin, pickled cabbage and cilantro sauce; kimchi quesadillas…. it was a foodie’s dream.
As we were looking at Jane Beeder’s fascinating collection, I blurted out “You WANNA go TO the FOOD truck!!?!!” No hesitation from Mandy. Love her.
I quickly scanned the chalkboard menu again…
…and it was an obvious choice: the whole menu the Korean BBQ tacos and a Kimchi Quesadilla …and Korean BBQ tacos for dessert.
Mandy and I shared the Kimchi Quesadilla. Sharing? Seriously. What were we thinking….?
The Korean BBQ tacos were sooo good. The meat was perfectly tender and marinated with just the right mix of tangy and sweet, then topped with pickled cabbage and a cilantro lime cream sauce. The doubled up corn tortillas were lightly grilled. Simple, but still an intriguing mix of flavors. My one (very minor) critique would be the need for a just a bit more cilantro sauce. But…then again…I have a mild obsession with cilantro. $6 for the tacos…..worth every penny.
I also love the mix of cuisines on the menu…Korean meets Mexican…Korexican? Korean BBQ on a taco…I get that. Kimchi in a quesadilla….can’t say that’s a snack I day dream about. But, it is now. Kimchi Quesadilla = Kimchi and jack cheese in a lightly grilled corn tortilla. I thought there was a sauce hiding in there, but I think it was the kimchi and cheeeeeessse swirling together. A $2 snack, and Mandy and I agreed we could have eaten about $20 worth of these crispy, gooey little guys. We managed some serious self-control. And then… Mandy looked at me and asked “Another round of tacos?” with a mischievous look. Self-control? Still working on it…
My time in Colorado is limited and there is a long list of food to be eaten before I leave. But, I will definitely be back to The Local to sample more of their wonderful creations.
